Chapter FOURTY — Part 5 of 6

How can a Christian who claims to be an evangelist predict the building of the Jewish Temple and the revival of Jewish animal sacrifices in the Holy City of Jerusalem which were practiced in the era of King Solomon and thereafter. Such predictions amount to the denial of Jesus Christ. The new temple is Christ's glorified humanity and the idea of the old temple has become irrelevant.

The Gospel of Saint Mark in chapter 14, verse 58. quotes Jesus: "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands." The Gospel of Saint John confirms this and explains this verse by stating in chapter 2, verses 19-21: "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body."

The Commentary on the Holy Bible explains that "the evangelist understood them (verse 21) to apply to the Resurrection, and this interpretation is confirmed by the fact that our Lord on other occasions also pointed His Resurrection as a sign for His opponents. Many critics, however, think that our Lord's real meaning was, 'When this old dispensation of the Ceremonial Law is destroyed, I will quickly raise up in its place a new and spiritual religion."' (235)

Saint Paul in his epistles to the Corinthians and his epistle to the Ephesians clearly states that the body of each Christian believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost. Following are full texts:

What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (236)


And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (237)

These words of Saint Paul were addressed to the Greeks of Corinth, who were gentiles, and he used the same words as had been used in Leviticus 26:12 which were addressed to the Israelites: "And I will walk among you and will be your God, and ye shall be my people."'

Again Saint Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians, stated as follows:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

And built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord;

In whom ye are also are builded together for an habitation of God through the spirit. (238)

This interpretation is confirmed in the New World Dictionary- Concordance to the New American Bible, as follows:

The new Temple is Christ's glorified humanity. For this reason the moment of his death which coincides with his glorification was marked by the rending of the Temple veil: that is, the Temple is discounted, becomes irrelevant to the religious point of view and its place is taken by the "temple not made with hands," that is, the humanity of Christ now glorified. Christians share in Christ's glorified life and are "the body of Christ" which is the Church. They constitute God's temple, for he lives there through his Spirit. The whole Church, animated by the Spirit of God, is the temple where God dwells and works out man's salvation. (239)

Dr. Helen Rosenau, one of England's leading art historians, states in her book, Vision of the Temple, the following:

In assessing the present situation it has to be acknowledged that the Temple image has lessened in impact. It has to be remembered that already in Revelation, when the coming down of the New Jerusalem out of heaven is described, John saw no Temple therein (Revelation 21:22). As for the majority of the Jews, the rebuilding of the Temple is not regarded as an actual possibility, and to many such a construction appears undesirable. (240)

Hal Lindsey was not satisfied with misquoting and misinterpreting the prophets and the gospels, he had the audacity to blasphemously claim that Jesus Christ spoke of the Jewish people being in the land of Palestine as a nation at the time of his return and that Jesus prophesied that the Temple has to be rebuilt. This is a fraud on the New Testament.

Lindsey claims that Jesus Christ predicted the establishment of the Zionist State in the following words:

One of the great signs He predicted, however, is often overlooked. He speaks of the Jewish people being in the land of Palestine as a nation at the time of His return. He speaks of "those who are in Judea" fleeing to the mountains to escape the great battles that immediately precede His return (Matthew 24:16). (LGPE, pp. 52-53)

Matthew 24: 16 states: "Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains."

The same phrase, "Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains" is also in Luke 21:21, which makes it perfectly clear of whom Jesus Christ was speaking. In verse 17 of chapter 21, Christ refers to those in Judaea who should flee to the mountains, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." In other words, Christ was not speaking of Jews being in Palestine as a nation, but of those citizens of the province of Judaea who had become Christians. Lindsey, with an equally fallacious interpretation, states:

Another statement of Jesus demands a national existence with even their ancient worship restored. "Pray that your flight may not be ... on a Sabbath (Matthew 24:20). This indicates that the ancient traditions regarding travel on the Sabbath would be in force again, thus hindering arapid escape from the predicted invasion.{LGPE, p. 53)

Again, Lindsey ignores the fact that both Christians and Muslims observe a Sabbath day, and that Jews were not hindered in observing their Sabbath in Palestine. That it hardly requires a "national existence" in Palestine for Jews to observe their Sabbath is seen in the thousands of synagogues in the United States which would obviously be closed down if Lindsey were correct.

Lindsey further states: "Even the Temple has to be rebuilt according to the sign given in Matthew 24: 15. (LGPE, p. 53) Needless to say, Matthew 24:15 does not even mention the temple.

The Gospel of Saint Luke, chapter 21, verse 20, states: "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." This makes it clear that the events which were foretold by Jesus Christ in the Gospels were the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman armies, which actually took place in 70 A.D. The historian Josephus does not record in his hook, The Jewish War, the presence of Christians in the besieged city of Jerusalem at that time, an indication that the Christians of Judaea followed Christ's advice and fled to the mountains when the Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem.

The New Testament prophecies were fulfilled shortly after the lifetime of Christ, just as the Old Testament prophecies had been largely fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the subsequent exile to, and return from, the Babylonian captivity.

By ignoring the prophecies of Christ which were fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D., and attempting to transpose them to a period two thousand years later by imputing a "Jewish national existence" to words which were in fact addressed to Christians of Judaea, not Jews, and by imputing that observance of a sabbath requires a Jewish national state, Lindsey appears to be practicing deliberate deceit, contradicting Jesus' own words: "Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." (241)

The fantasies of Hal Lindsey were discussed in detail by Professor Dewey M. Beegle in his book, Prophecy and Prediction. He stated:

Lindsey is convinced, of course, that he is teaching the truth: "In this book I am attempting to step aside and let the prophets speak" (LGPE, Introduction). He even arranged an interview with J'eane Dixon in which he interacted with her about her use of occult paraphernalia in making predictions. "With real regret," Lindsey states, "I told Mrs. Dixon that I believed her prophetic ability was not from God. I told her 1 sincerely believed that if shedidn't reject this psychic power, it would lead to her destruction. She said she was certain her gift was from God and that she knew beyond doubt the 'feeling' of God's presence" (SAWPE, pp. 127-28).

"When our 'feelings,' no matter how right they may seem, contradict Scripture," Lindsey declares, "we must conclude that our feelings are wrong" (SAWPE, p. 128).

Although we have covered only a fraction of the problems in Lindsey's views, enough has been highlighted to show that his understanding of Scripture is as "subjective" as Dixon's "feelings."

In a conversation with Lindsey about his predictions, W. Ward Gasque, Regent College, Vancouver, Canada, asked, "But what if you're wrong?" Lindsey replied:

"Well, there's just a split second's difference between a hero and a bum. I didn't ask to be a hero, but I guess I have become one in the Christian community. So I accept it. But if I'm wrong about this, 1 guess I'll become a bum" (Christianity Today, April 15, 1977, p. 40).

The indications are that he will miss by years, not seconds. A few of his predictions may accidentally hit the mark. It is very hard to be 100% wrong. But there isn't a chance in this world or the next that the elaborate drama he has concocted will take place in that detail and sequence!... (242)

JERRY FALWELL

Jerry Falwell is one of the major electronic mercenary evangelists who have served the cause of the Zionists by many preposterous declarations. Jerry Falwell visited Israel more than ten times when Menahem Begin was prime minister and established a close relationship with that terrorist and war criminal. Falwell arranged tourist trips for tens of thousands of his followers and made millions of dollars in profits from these trips. Begin gave Falwell a jet airplane as a gift.

When Falwell delivered sermons in Israel, they were limited to his own followers watching on closed circuit television in hotels. He was never allowed to address Jews in any public hall. In the same way Billy Graham was not allowed to deliver a sermon in a public hall in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Although he rented a hall for that purpose, the contract was cancelled under the pressure of the Israeli government, and he was not allowed to preach the gospel in Israel.

Falwell wrote a book, Listen, America, which was published in 1980. One entire chapter was dedicated to his fraudulent misrepresentation about Israel entitled "The Miracle Called Israel." This chapter shows that Falwell is ignorant about what happened in Palestine from 1948 until today. However, we shall limit our arguments to his willful misrepresentation and misinterpretation of the Bible.

Falwell states that "The Bible clearly prophesied that after more than twenty-five hundred years of dispersion, the Jewish people would return to the land of Israel and establish the Jewish nation once again ..." ( LA, p. 107) This statement is nonsense and he does not cite any prophecy in the Old or New Testament to support his false claim. All the verses from the scriptures that he quotes later in the chapter called "This Miracle Called Israel" are out of context and do not support this claim, but refer to the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian captivity.

Falwell states, "God has kept his promise to Abraham, the father of the Jewish race," (LA, p. 109) and he quotes Genesis 12:2-3. These verses refer to Abraham and God's promise to him. How could Falwell state that they refer to the Jews or to the State of Israel? These verses refers to Abraham, "the father of many nations." Falwell states that Abraham is the father of the Jewish "race." This statement is contradicted by Jesus Christ in John 8:39-44, as follows:

39. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

41. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

42. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me ...

43. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do ...

Abraham was not a Jew and 90% of the Jews of the world today are neither Semites nor the descendants of Abraham, but Khazars of Turco-Finn origin. Those who established Israel in 1948 were Ashkenazi Jews of Khazar origin. The top leaders of Israel today are of Khazar origin and have no relation with Abraham, or the ancient Israelites, or with Palestine.

Falwell commits another blunder by stating that there is a "Jewish race." All encyclopaedias, including the Encyclopaedia Britannica, clearly state that there is no Jewish race. The Jews are followers of the Judaic religion based on the Torah and the Talmud, in the same way that Christians are not a race but followers of Jesus Christ, and Muslims are not a race, but followers of the religion of Islam enunciated by the Quran and the sayings of Prophet Mohammad.

Falwell states that "these scattered people have clung to the words of their prophets who foretold that they would ultimately return to their land and there someday prosper again." (LA, p. 109) He did not identify these prophets or describe their prophecies about the Jewish return to Palestine. However, he later on quotes Jeremiah 31:10 and alleges that it applies to the Jewish coming to Palestine in the 19th and 20th centuries, while in fact this verse refers to the return of the ancient Israelites from the Babylonian captivity. This verse should be read in conjunction with the words that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in chapter 30, which definitely refers to the return of the ancient Israelites to the land of Canaan in the 6th century B.C.

Falwell quotes Jeremiah 31:10, that He "that scattered Israel will gather him." Every verse in chapters 30 and 31 of Jeremiah refers to the return of the ancient Israelites from the Babylonian and Persian empires to the land of Canaan, which prophecy was fulfilled, and could not in any way be interpreted as refemng to the coming of the non-Semitic Khazar Jews to Palestine in the 20th century.

Falwell states that "the prophesied return of the children of Israel to Palestine had finally happened!" (LA, p. 110) But those Jews who came to Palestine in the 19th and 20th centuries were not the children of Israel. To call them "children of Israel" is a fraud on history and on the Holy Bible. Falwell quotes Ezekiel 37:12:

Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

No one knows that these Khazar Jews were dead and were resurrected and brought to Palestine in the 20th century. This verse obviously cannot apply to the coming of the Jews to Palestine in the 20th century. Even symbolically, the Commentary on the Holy Bible interprets the graves in this verse as follows:

The figure here is somewhat changed. Still the reference is not to the graves of those actually dead, but to the heathen world as the grave of the dead nation of Israel, compared to which their own land was the land of the living. (243)

Apparently Falwell did not read Ezekiel 37:21, which states: "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land."

If Falwell had read the above verse he would have recognized that his premise would categorize as "heathen" the people of the United States, including the good people of his town, Lynchburg, Virginia, and of Europe, because the Khazar Jews migrated from these countries to Palestine in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Chapters 36 and 37 of Ezekiel do not apply to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. They apply to events during and after the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and to the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian and Persian empires. Chapter 36, verse 24 of Ezekiel states: "For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land." The New World Dictionary-Concordance to the New American Bible states:

Chapters 33-39 are oracles during and after the siege of Jerusalem. It is a collection of promises of the future restoration of Israel. Outstanding are the discourse against the evil shepherds of Israel who were responsible for the ruin of the nation and the following one on the promised good shepherd who would gather the flock, care for it and lead it to pasture. This was an allusion to the return from exile. The flock is then entrusted to "my servant David," that is, to the Messiah (c.34). Chapter 37 contains the famous vision of the dry bones which joined together, were covered with sinews, flesh and skin, and came to life again in an immense army. This is the announcement of a restoration which reaches beyond the traditional scheme of hope and promises, and is the work of the Spirit of God (37: 14). This will include the remission of sins, the interior transformation of man, who will be made capable of hearing the voice of God and allowing with docility and freedom the lead of the law (Ezekiel 36: 15-32). (244)

Obviously these chapters of Ezekiel refer to the period from the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonian armies, the exile in Babylon, the return from Babylonia and the Persian empire under Zerubbabel of the House of David, and before the coming of Jesus Christ during the Roman period.

Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel refer also to the return of the Israelites and the life of the Jews before the coming of Jesus Christ in the Roman period, albeit idealistically as stated by the New World Dictionary-Concordance to the New American Bible:

d. Chapters 40-48 contain a description of the ideal Israel in the future restoration. The prophet is carried in a vision to Palestine where from the top of a mountain he contemplates the new Temple (40-42). Then follows a description of the retum of the glory of the Lord (see Ezekiel 10:18-19: 11:17- 21) who came to inhabit the new Temple, and the laws which regulate the cult of the new Temple and its priesthood (43-46). A spring of water emerges from the Temple and washes the land of Palestine bringing life and fruitfulness to the whole land (47:l-12). Finally Ezekiel assists at the distribution of the land to the twelve tribes of Israel (47:13-48:35).

These chapters are obviously not a practical project for national renewal. Rather are they a concrete and imaginative description of an ideal. Ezekiel often translates theological theses into practical and concrete terms. One example of this is the plan for the restoration of the Temple which could not be realized as it did not fit in to the local topography of Jerusalem and Israel; however the prophet teaches symbolically the function which the Temple and the cult must have in the restored Israel.

Here and there however there are concrete measures that are nearer reality, and are meant to be put into practice after the retum to Israel, All in all, chapters 40-48 show a firm decision eventually to renew the national religious life of Israel after the maturing process of the sobering inactivity of exile. (245)

Falwell relies also on Isaiah 43:5-6 as evidence of the prophecy of the coming of Jews to Palestine in the 19th and 20th centuries. These verses state:

Fear not. for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.

How could Falwell ignore verse 14 of the same chapter of Isaiah. which states:

Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down their nobles, and the Chaldeans ...

This shows that this chapter refers to the return from the Persian empire after the Persians had destroyed Babylon. The four direction from which the Israelites returned were within the Persian empire and its vassals, which encompassed most of the known world at the time.

The New World Dictionay-Concordance to the New American Bible refers to chapters 40 to 66 of Isaiah, stating the following:

The prophet is addressing the exiled in Babylonia, to whom he brings a messages of joy: exile time is finished and the time of the retum to Palestine has come (lsaiah 40:1-5). The prophet speaks of Cyrus as the instrument chosen by God to bring about the liberation of his people (lsaiah 44:28; 45:1-31, The prophet expends himself in trying to reanimate the people and shake them from their lethargy and defeatism. He takes issue with idolatry (44:6-23) which had by its splendor attracted the exiles, and in contrast to the apathy of his co-nationals he exalts the figure of Yahweh, the creator and father of nature and history, who is able to do what he promises. This is borne out by the past history of Israel (lsaiah 48:1-11) and will once more be demonstrated when the power of Babylon is broken (Isaiah 47).

These are the themes that return again and again with infinite variations in chapters 40-45. The author of these chapters cannot have been Isaiah. (246)

The absurdity of Falwell is seen in that he also relies on Jeremiah 32:42-44. Verse 43, expressly refers to the land's having been "given into the hand of the Chaldeans." If Falwell had the time to look at any English dictionary he would have found that the term Chaldeans means *'an ancient Semitic people that became dominant in Babylonia." When the Israelites were exiled to Babylon the Babylonians, whose dominant people were the Chaldeans, brought thousands of diverse peoples to settle in the land of Canaan.

The above reference in verse 43 provides conclusive proof that in these chapters Jeremiah is referring to the Babylonian conquest, the exile of the Babylonian captivity, and the return therefrom, not to events some 2,500 years later.

Falwell also relies on chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel, which as we have shown before form an integral part of a section from chapters 33 through 39 dealing with the return from the Babylonian captivity and a foretelling of the coming of Jesus Christ during the Roman period, and has no relation whatsoever to events in the 20th century.

Falwell again quotes part of Genesis 12:3, namely, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee," but Falwell, like other evangelists, fraudulently omits the most important part of that verse - "and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." This refers to Abraham, who was neither an Israelite nor a Jew, and the fulfillment of the "seed of Abraham" in Jesus Christ, which we have discussed earlier in this chapter. In Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, "all families of the earth" are blessed. How could Falwell make such a statement? Does he mean to tell the Christian world that the nations of the world are blessed by terrorists and war criminals like Menahem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon and other non-Semitic leaders of the present State of Israel?

Falwell has the audacity and the stupidity to make the following absurd statement:

I firmly believe God has blessed America because America has blessed the Jew. If this nation wants her fields to remain white with grain, her scientific achievements to remain notable, and her freedom to remain intact, America must continue to stand with Israel. (247)

The prosperous agriculture of the United States and its great scientific and industrial achievements are due to its hard-working people, their intelligence, and the climatic conditions of the country, and they prospered long before 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel. In our opinion, the United States will finally suffer greatly for aiding and abetting, and financially assisting Israeli terrorists and war criminals against the Muslim and Christian indigenous population of Palestine, who are part of the seed of Abraham both genetically and spiritually.

We did not want to deal with the preposterous political statement about the Palestine Problem made by Falwell in his book, and limited ourselves to the religious aspects because we wanted to refute his flimsy arguments regarding the claim that the retum of the Jews to Palestine was a fulfillment of prophecy.

THE MAJORITY OF BIBLICAL SCHOLARS REFUTE THE THESIS THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL IN 1948 WAS A FULFILLMENT OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY

Many Biblical scholars, Ministers and evangelists have written numerous books, essays and scholarly articles refuting the Zionist, Christian Zionist and electronic evangelistsi claim that the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

We hereby submit quotations from some of these Biblical authorities without any comment:

1. Dr. Alfred Guillaume, Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of London, commented on the Zionist Biblical claims:

But such views are a distortion of the Old Testament prophecies which predicted a return from Babylon and from all the lands whither the Jews had been exiled. And these prophecies were fulfilled. The Jews did return to Judea, they did rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and they did rebuild the temple; and after fluctuating fortunes they did secure a brief period of political independence and expansion under the Maccabkes. Thus the prophecies of the Return have been fulfilled, and they cannot be fulfilled again, Within the canonical literature of the Old Testament there is no prophecy of a second return after the return from the Babylonian Exile; because (a) after the Exile all the Jews who wished to do so had returned to the Holy Land, though a great many more preferred to remain where they were and formed the Diaspora which afterwards became the &ckbone of the Christian Church; and (b) the labt of the prophets died centuries before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. (248)

2. Dr. Frank Stagg, Professor of New Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, concluded:

The people of God described in the New Tesbment as the church (ecclesia), the body of Chrkt, the israel of God. or subjects under the kingdom (sovereignty) of God, and by various other terms, transcend all national and racial categories. The people of God as described in the New Testament are not to be identifid w~th any existing or future political state. The New Testament recognizes the importance of ordered societies and hence of political state?. but never does it confuse the kingdom of God or thechurch with a nation or race of people. Reference to the people of God as the Israel of God is only an apparent exception, for in the New Testament the "Israel of God" is made up of Jews and Gentiles wherever and whenever they may live ...

The state of Israel today is a nation among nations, and it must as apolitical state pursue its destiny as any other political state. It must be judged as any other political state. But to identify modem Israel, the state or the Jewish people, with the "Israel of God" is to miss the teaching of the New Testament at one of its most vital points. (249)

3. Dr. Orvid R. Sellers, Minister in the United Presbyterian Church and Professor of Old Testament at McCormick Theological Seminary, observed:

Paul was proud of his Jewish ancestry; he called himself "an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin" (Romans 11:1). But he believed that the Jews' rejection of Jesus temporarily had separated them from the favor of God "blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." He hoped that eventually "all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:25-26). Under the new covenant, however, there would be no distinction; "for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek" (Romans 10:12). And those who accepted Christ would have the benefit of the ancient promises. "Then, if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise'' (Galatians 3:29) ...

A great deal has been written by theologians and Biblical scholars about Israel in the New Testament. But it is hoped that this brief treatment will show how a Christian, relying on Christian Scripture, can think of Israel not as a geographical, ethnical or political unit, but as the body of all believers, "the Israel of God." (250)

4. The Right Reverend Jonathan G. Sheman, S.T.D., Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, New York, stated:

Faith in Christ has therefore replaced the works of the law as the condition of man's peace with God (Romans 3~20-28; 5:l). Therc remains no ground for discrimination between Jew and Greek, "for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him" (Romans 10: 12). Those who have entered into the new covenant relationship with God in Christ are the true Israel of God! (Galatians 6:16). This has been God's purpose, the mystery of his will, before the foundation of the world: that "in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ" and that "the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel'' (Ephesians 1:10; 3:6).

Bishop Sherman concludes as follows:

In the Old Covenant God promised to the children of Israel military victory over their enemies in order that they might enter into the land flowing with milk and honey on the condition of Israel's obedience to His commandments~ Israel failed to keep the covenant and so forfeited the promises of God. But God promised a New Covenant, to be written not on tables of stone but in the hearts of his people (Jeremiah 31:31-33; II Corinthians 3:2f). Of this New Covenant Jesus is the mediator (Hebrews 8:6-13; 9-15). In place of victory over human enemies Jesus gives us victory over sin and death (I Corinthians 15:55-57). In place of the land of Canaan he gives us his kingdom (St. Luke 12:32). In place of milk and honey he gives us the fruit of the spirit - love and joy and peace and forgiveness. Verily, "in him all the promises of God are Yea"! (II Corinthians 1:20). (251)

5. Dr. William F. Stinespring, Professor of Old Testament and Semitics at Duke University, in commenting about the above authorities, stated:

To the Christian, the Bible is a whole, consisting of two parts, Old Testament and New Testament, each part being indispensable to the other; therefore, both parts must be carefully explored by a Christian wishing to seek or to say what his Bible says. Professor Guillaume has given primary attention to the Old Testament, though he points forward to the New at the end. Bishop Sherman has explored both testaments rather thoroughly. Professor Stagg and Dr. Sellers have given primary attention to the New Testament.

Though these Christian contributors are from different lands and different denominations, the unanimiv of their witness is striking. They agree that there is no basis in either Old Testament or New to support the claim of the Zionists that a modern Jewish state in Palestine is justified or demanded by the Bible or by Biblical prophecy. Furthemore, it becomes clear from their discussions that the "promises" of Biblical prophecy apply to all mankind, and not only to Jews or Zionists; that such terms as "victory" and "salvation," in their true Biblical meaning, connote religious and spiritual achievements, and not the conquest or degradation of political enemies; and, more specifically, that such tems as "Israel," "the new Israel," or "the Israel of God" in the New Testament apply to the ideal Christian church. or to a body of true believers in the religious sense. The evidence is overwhelming that no true Christian, believing in the New Testament, could possibly confuse the modem Israel, brought into being by political machination and mil~tary power accompanied by ruthless deprivation of the native inhabitants. with the Israel of God of Christian faith. These two Israels contradict one another completely. A report of concerned Christians puts the matter thus:

"The word 'Israel' gags the present church (in the Middle East) because of its contemporary associations. This involves further a reaction against the total Old Testament orientation around the calling of Israel as the People of God. Especially among Christian refugees the associations are so bitter as to preclude the use of any scripture which contains the word or suggests the idea of Israel. (Refugees from Palestine, pamphlet of the Division of Foreign Missions, National Council of Churches, New York 1957, p, 15.) (252)

6. Evangelist John L. Bray, a Southern Baptist Minister, in his book, Israel in Bible Prophecy expresses the opinion in many parts of that book that the present day Israel is not a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. The following are excerpts from that book:

ISRAEL'S PROPHESIED RETURN TO THE LAND WAS LITERALLY FULFILLED (IN THE PAST)

All the prophecies relating to a definite regathering of Israel from nations back to Palestine and Jerusalem, were made before their return from Babylon. Such prophecies related to their return from Babylon and thc places they were then, even if we cannot seem to think that everything was fulfilled in exactly the way we would have wanted them fulfilled in accord with our own interpretation. Such prophecies made before their return from Babylon certainly do not apply to any futuristic viewpoint from our vantage point, either in our present day nor in the future. There are a number of such prophcies, including Ezekiel 36:24-29, which predict such a return of the Jews from Babylon and elsewhere, which are used by some of our friends seeking to prove a future (in our future) return of the Jews to Palestine, when Goddefinitely did not mean this at all. Why cannot such teachers simply look at the dates of the prophecies and realize that thoseprophecies were made before (and even during) the return of the Jews to Palestine from Babylon, etc., and that God actually and literally did bring about their fulfillmeni as He said He would?

Some teach that God did not actually fulfil His prophecies made to Israel as to their first possession of the Land (and therefore they say it will have to be fulfilled latcr); and these same people teach that God did not actually fulfil His prophecies made to Israel before and during the Babylonian captivity as to their re.storation to the Land (so therefore they say these prophecies will have to be fulfilled later also). Why deny that they were fulfilled? The Bible says they were!

No prophecies concerning the return of the Jews to Palestine were made following their reffirn from Babylon, etc. Mark this down well in your study of Israel. Many make the mistake of applying the prophecies which were made prior to their return, to the wrong period - our present and future. This is amazing to me that it is done, except in an attempt to uphold a theory about a future Jewish kingdom restored in Palestine some day. (253)

Evangelist Bray states:

Some say that Israel will yet be restored to Palestine on the basis of Biblical fulfillment, on account of the "second time" mentioned in Isaiah 1 I: 1 I: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left." But notice: Thefirsttime was when he led them out of Egypt into the promised land; this second time was following the Babylonian captivity which lasted 70 years. Some teach that this "second time" is still in the future. But verse I6 (same chapter) indicates the comparison of the second time with the first time, the second time involving "an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; Like as it was to Israel ia the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." Egypt, and Babylon in Absyria; these are the two references here from which the people returned - the first time, and the second time. There is no third time prophesied!

Some say that because in verse 12 the promise is to "gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth," that the prophecy has to be in the future rather than the re-gathering from Babylon. However, look at Jeremiah 32:37 where God says, 'Tiehold, I will gather them out of all countries ...," and this in the same context where He speaks of the Babylonian captivity which took place; not only were the Israelites taken captive into Babylon itself, but their dispersion took them into many corners of the world.

Also, as further proof that Isaiah 11:11, 12 does not apply to our future, but to the past when God brought the people back after the Babylonian captivity, note that in verse 14 it is stated, "But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the West ... they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them." They would have a difficult time today of even finding those Philistines, Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites!

The New Testament explains further spiritual fulfillment of prophecies of the OldTestament. For example, the passage just referred to, Isaiah 11:10, is quoted in Romans 15: 12. What idea did Paul give to the meaning of this prophecy? He quotes Isaiah 11:10 as indicating that Jesus Christ was fulfillment "to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (vs. 81, and he quotes four Old Testament scriptures prophesying the salvation of the Gentiles (nothing regarding the Jews because he is showing the fulfillment in the salvation of the Gentiles). (254)

Evangelist Bray states further:

God promised a restoration of Israel from Babylon where He had scattered them (Jeremiah 31:10, 32:37). Then Jesus prophesied another scattering in Luke 21:24, but no promise this time of a restoration.

Logic would dictate that the prophecies relating to the restoration of the Jews to Palestine were all fulfilled as promised, or else have other symbolic meaning, and they are not prophecies that are yet to occur in our present or future day as some claim.

In fact, any restoration promised was to be based on repentancc and faith. These things ceminly are not qualifying factors in the actual return of the Jews to Palestine today. The Jews are not returning to the land of Israel today in Biblical repentance and faith. How many Christian Jews do you suppose could be found in all of the nation of Israel today? Have they yet repented of their slns and accepted Christ as their Savior and Messiah? You might be surprised at the very few compared to all of Israel. (255)

Evangelist Bray emphatically states that there is not a single verse in the New Testament which denotes that the Jews will be restored to Palestine and establish a State. He states:

Surely no one will say that there is a single solitary verqe anywhere in the entire New Testament which teaches a future restoration of the Jews to Palestine, nor of their conversion to Christ after His second coming. Surely if such things are to happen, they would bc of such great importance that they would have found a place in the writings of the New Testament at some point in all its pages. But such is not the case! Not a single New Testament writer says anything about a future restoration of Israel to the h n d , let alone anything about a future conversion of all the Jews at the second coming of Christ. (256)

Bray deals very thoroughly with the conversion of the non-Semitic Khazars, a kingdom in Southern Russia, to Judaism, and he states that before World War II the Ashkenazi Jews who were descendants of these Khazars composed 90% of the total number of Jews in the world. He then states the following:

Of course, what happened in that intervening period might be a sensitive matter to many of the "Jewish" people today, especially to those holding to the concept of their being God's chosen race whose promised future is restoration to Palestine and establishment of a kingdom dominant over the rest of the world. What happened is also a challenging bit of history to over-zealous Christians who promote the Zionist Political State on the basis of Biblical prophecy. (257)

7. Bradley Watkins of the United Presbyterian Church and a graduate of Haverford College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary and recipient of his Masters in Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, wrote a pamphlet entitled Is the Modern State of Israel a Fulfillment of Prophecy? In the conclusion of that pamphlet, he stated as follows:

I have tried to show that the modem state. Israel, is not the fulfillment of prophecy. Hundreds of times each year we read the statement, "The land belongs to the Jews because God promised it to them." This apparently pious and harmless claim appears frequently in the secular press and in Christian journals, as well as in Zionist propaganda. In endeavoring to refute the claim, I have quoted outstanding prophecies which are commonly supposed to support it. I believe that when these passages are examined in their contexts and in the light of the entire sweep of Scripture, they justify the following propositions:

1. The promises of the land of Canaan, to Abraham and to the people at Sinai, were fulfilled literally in the conquest under Joshua.

2. These promises were made upon condition that the people would obey the covenant. They did not; therefore they were driven from the land, and the promise of the land was no longer valid.

3. The promise of return from captivity was fulfilled literally under Cyrus, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, several hundred years before Christ.

4. The New Testament interprets these promises in terms of a spiritual redemption from captivity to sin, a redemption which is available to Gentiles as well as to Jews.

5. The promise to Abraham includes all nations, and not only the Jews.

6. The promise to Abraham was fulfilled, completely and forever, in Christ.

7. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of David and the King of the Jews, who fulfills the promise to David, "I will establish the throne of your Kingdom forever."

8. Jesus predicted the complete destruction of Jerusalem, and with it the end of the exclusive claims of the Jewish kingdom.

9. Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant, which renders the Old Covenant obsolete.

10. The belief that the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of prophecy reflects upon the finality of Christ. He Himself is the true temple, Priest and Sacrifice, the final Prophet, the universal King. After the substance has come, who will be content with the shadow?

11. To link salvation with Zionism reflects upon the nature of God. God is Spirit, and His worship is not restricted to any geographical location. Furthermore, God is just; He cannot condone violent dispossession today any more than He condoned Ahab's seizure of Naboth's vineyard.

12. The chosen people were chosen to be the initial recipients of God's revelation of Himself, in order that they might convey it to all mankind. The New Testament speaks of the Church as "the Israel of God." Upon the Church, therefore, rests the responsibility involved in this choice: to preach the name of Christ "to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47]. Beginning from Jerusalem, not ending there.

When He gave this commission to His disciples, Jesus was standing for the last time on the Mount of Olives. He looked across at the holy city stretched out before Him, with the Kedron Valley at his feet and the temple directly opposite. The disciples, glorying in the accomplished fact of the resurrection but still blinded by their nationalistic vision, asked Him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" Patiently Jesus replied:

"It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (/Acts 1 :6-8). (258)

8. Although many supporters of the Christian Zionists have been Baptists, thoughtful Baptist scholars have examined these claims and have found them wanting. Dr. John Wilmot, for thirty years Pastor of Highgate Road Baptist Chapel, London, and who received his degree of doctor of divinity from Toronto (Canada) Baptist Seminary, emphasizes:

It is claimed by dispensationalists that these post-exilic prophecies envisage a return of the Jews to the land in unbelief, distinct from and later than that of their own day, with the resurrection of their temple, and eventual conversion by the second appearing of Jesus Christ. The present Israeli State is said to be in preparation for if not in part fulfillment of this, and passages from Haggai and Zechariah, not to speak; of other Scriptures, are called in evidence. The New Testament, however, provides not the slightest confirmation of it. Haggai's prophecy is not of an earthly and temporary kingdom now being prepared for. The New Testament explanation is that God would "speak yet once more and shake not the earth only but also heaven, signifying the removing of those things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain"; namely, that believers "receive a kingdom which cannot be moved." so "the latter glory" is not millennia1 but eternal. (Cf. Hag 2:6-9; Heb 12:27,28; 2 Pet 3; Rev 21-22) (259)

Dr. Wilmot concludes:

Christ's final word about the Jewish nation was of their dispersal among the nations of the world (Luke 21:24). This came to pass and has since continued ... The Scriptures, then, do not contemplate that the scattered nation would again become a returning nation, now that the final purpose for which God distinguished them from other nations by His vicarious choice of them has been realized in the bringing into the world of His Son the Messiah, Seed of Abraham, Seed of David, Savior of mankind (Rom 9). That end fulfilled, like the types and shadows which accompanied their separated and instrumental appointment, they arc now superseded, and the Redeemer having so come, it was prophesied that He died "not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad," which prophecy agrees with His own word, using another figure, "Other sheep (that is, other than from among Jews) I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd."(John 11:52; 10:16) (260)

9. Dr. G. Ch. Aalders, rector magnificus and professor of Old Testament Prophecy at the Free University of Amsterdam gave an address which was published in his University's academic journal, Quarterly, and quoted by John Wilmot in his book Inspired Principles of Prophetic Interpretation:

The purpose of the address was to investigate whether the creation of a self-governing state by the people of Israel has to be regarded as an obvious fulfillment of Scriptural prediction. Wide circles of Christians are most fervently attached to this opinion, but the problem is not as simple as many of them imagine. The Speaker has as his particular field of study the Old Testament, but he also pointed out that the New Testament is not concerned with a national restoration of Israel. Whatever the exact meaning of Romans 11:26 may be, it is beyond doubt that it has nothing to say with respect to the national status of the Jewish people on their return to Palestine. Likewise, Revelation 20:9 in mentioning "the camp of the saints" and "the beloved city" does not presuppose the re-establishment of Jewish government in Palestine; as the context makes clear, the passage refers to those who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it cannot be disputed that the Old Testament contains quite a number of places which bear upon the realization of a national future for the people of Israel. In taking a survey of these pronouncements, the lecturer called attention to the fact that they arc only Assyrians and Chaldcans who are indicated as the instruments of divine wrath by whom the people were carried away from their country; and as the Lord's promise of return naturally has been primarily addressed to this people, it goes without saying that this return was meant as areturn from the Assyrian and Babylonian exile. Is it acceptable that such promise at the same time could have had in view a much later return from a renewed exile which had not been explicitly announced? Furthermore. the appeal that has often been made to various expressions like "I will scatter you among the heathen" and "the Lord will gather thee from all the nations," or the phrase "in the latter days" do not imply reference to a later period than that of the Assyro-Babylonian exile. The predictions of return occurring in the writings of post-exile prophets refer to those remained back after the edict of Cyrus.

Having thus enquired into the witness of Old Testament prophecy the lecturer proceeded to answer the question whether the State of Israel as it presents itself now can be considered a fulfillment of this prophecy. He carefully traced all available data concerning the State, starting from the Zionist movement to which the origin of the State is greatly indebted, citing the proclamation whereby the foundation of a Jewish State in Eretz Israel was announced, referring to the project of this constitution, and producing a brief survey of the political parties existing in Israel. All these data sufficiently indicate that the State of Israel does not answer the expectation which many people cherish of a converted Israel restored to its former condition.

Now among those who are inclined to salute the State of Israel as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy the idea is prominent that the Jewish people would return to Palestine unconverted, and that after this return Israel will come to conversion, and so the promise of Scripture will be realized. Therefore, they qualify the re-establishment of the Jewish nation as particularly significant, and view it as the sign of the fig tree. But just as well as it can be determined that the State of Israel does not match the picture which has been drawn on account of Old Testament prophecy, it likewise must be stated, that the idea of a restored unconverted Israel which is going to be converted afterwards is entirely contrary to the testimony of prophecy. Throughout, prophecy pictures conversion and restoration as closely connected; and when the man of God, Moses, even before Israel had entered Canaan, in the name of the Lord predicts their rebellion and captivity among the nations as well as return from exile, he unequivocally puts conversion as condition for the renewal of God's favor: "for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep His commandmenis and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul" {Deuteronomy 30:9).

Finally, it is necessary to observe how the Old Testament itself definitely contradicts the notion of a restoration of Israel to its former position of a people of God after having rejected the Messiah. Daniel 9:27 informs us that the judgment passed upon Israel, as the Messiah will have been "cut off," is a judgment "even unto the consummation." In the prophecies of Jeremiah more than once stress is laid upon the fact that in the chastisement of Jerusalem the Lord "will not make a full endm- in Hebrew the same expression is used- but contrary to this, after the rejection of the Messiah, the divine judgment will reach the full end. A like tendency strikes us in the well-known prophecy of the new covenant: this covenant is contrasted to the covenant of Sinai, resting upon the external bond of belonging to the nation of Israel; the new covenant rests upon ihe purely internal bond of having the Lord's law in people's inward parts, and this new covenant is realized in the New Testament Church. In that the Lord says, "a new covenant, He hath made the first old; now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13). So the particular place which Israel occupied as a nation in relation to God has come to a final end. In summing up the lecturer drew the conclusion: "the establishment of the State of Israel. though certainly aremarkable event in the historic process of the world's nations, cannot be regarded as a realization of prophetic prediction in the Old Testament; whatever has happened in Palestine and may happen there in the future, it has nothing to do with the divine prophecy which is presented in Holy Scripture." (261)

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